Picks and Pans Review: Alcohol & Cocaine: the Secret of Addiction

ABC's Closeup on the ills of alcohol and cocaine isn't notable so much for its news as for its detail. We already know that both substances are bad for us; the show tells us how bad. We know that both are addictive; the show tells us how they hook us. We know that children of addicts have worse-than-aver-age odds of becoming addicts; the show reveals science's recent discoveries about that. But in the rough cut I saw, the show seemed stretched to fill an hour—relying on some pretty extreme stories from former addicts—and a bit disorganized. The reporting might have delivered more oomph as a fact-packed segment on 20/20.